Overhead door hinge



l Aug. 28, I`951' R. FowLl-:R

' OVERHEAD DOOR HINGE Filed June 24, 1946 Patented Aug. 28, 1951T UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE '2,566,022 'OVRHED DOOR/HINGE Roscoe liovvler, .Los Angeles, Calif. application 31111624, 1946, `Serial No. 678,862

Claims. 1

My invention relates to overhead doors, such as used forgarages, 'and thelike.

One of the principal 'objeots of this invention is 'to provide an overhead door, 'which may -be shifted from a closed vertical to an open overhead horizontal position substantially without any part thereof being raised, at any time during `such shifting, above such Yhorizontal position.

important 'Object of lthe invention Vis vto provide anov'el and relatively simple lever `and link mechanism `foi' effecting such'r'esult.

Another important Object of this V'iii've'rltion is topro'vide a door of this class which may be'relatively easily shifted 'from a closed to fan openposinon, or from the latter to the former positions, and also a door ofthis class which may be 'resiliently heldin either position. ,y

An important objeot also o'f this linventionis to provide lever and link mechanism for a door of this Class which "may be readily adjusted tofdifferent vsizes of doors.

A further important object of this invention is to provide lever` and link mechanism "for doorsof this class which 'may be readily installed.

With these and other objects in View, as will appear hereinafter, I have devised 'a door construction having certain novel features of oons'truction, combination, and arrangement of'par'ts and portions, as will be hereinafter described in detail and particularly setforth in the v:au'ipentled claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and 'to the characters of reference thereon, which form a part of 'thisfaDpllcation in which:

Fig. 1 is a oross-Sectional elevational View of a door and doorirame'with the dooi` in a closed position, and showing 'a lever and link means for supporting the door on the frame so that the same may be shifted from 9, vertically closed to a horizontal open position,- and lshowing by various dash, /dotQand-dash, and dotted lines, the door, and lever 'and link means in various shifted positions; e Fig. 21's an inner side view of one edge of the door and frame, and the lever and -link mechanism for Vsupporting one 'side of the door on the frame; and,

Fig. '3 is a sectional View, taken through 3 3 of Fig. 1, showing apiv'ot'al vmounting of the door on the frame. n

The structure of my invention, as illustrated in the drawings, 'is applied directly to an overhead door as used for garages, and the like. Here the door frame, designated I,- is shown fragmentary Figs. '1, 2, 'and 3, 'and the dooris desishatedV 12. In an upright or vertically -closed .position, -the upper-end of -the doorengages -a jamb la.

The lever and link mechanism of my invention consists of a master vlever I Leguide levers I2 and I3, and aguide llink I4. Such-1ever and link mechanism -is duplicated iat the opposite lateral'sides of the door fand door opening, 'but only one is 'shown inthe drawings.

At the inner side of the trame, and substantially at the middle portion between its lowerfamd upper ends 'is a bracket I5, which extends considerably inwardly -ilrom the plane of the door, when in its -closed position. The-lever H is pivoted near one end,'on the inner endof `the bracket I5. To the inner side of 'the 4lever Il is secu-red an elongated hinge member I6' which -e-iects, at its median portion, the pivotal mounting upon the bracket I5. The member VHi constitutes substantially a reinforcement on the lever I-I and provides a relatively wide o'iset face against the bracket I5. The normally lower end II @of this lever is pivotally mounted on a bracket Il at the lower end ofthe door.

the door `2 is pivotallysupported at -its lower end on or with respect to -theVbracket I5, that is, kby means of the lever -I-I. The door is swung about pivotal axes through Ythe brackets I5 kand -I'I to a horizontal position at the upper end of the door opening vwith its normally -lower end substantially flush with the building wall in which the fram-e is provided. .The shifting 'or swinging of lthe vdoor to its open .position is def termined 4or controlled by the guide'means com,- prising the `levers and link 42, I-3, and I4. The lever i2 is pivotally mounted at one vend on 'a bracket I8 'at or near the upper-end `of the side ofthe -frame One end of the -lever "I3, which is considerably shorter, is pivotally connected at one end to the bracket 19 :provided at vthe inner side of and intermediate portion of 'the door 2. The link I4 is pivotally connected at vone end intermediate the .pivotal connections Aof the -lever II, and preferably nearer the pivotal mounting of the lever on the bracket I5. These :levers and link I2, I3, and I4, are pivotally connected, as shown-i-n-Figs. land 2. e

The initial `opening of the doo-f1', which is or may be initiated by a grip 20, pauses the door to Abe shifted to vthe dotted line position :designated 1A. The dotted -line positions designated, respectively, 1B, C, and 1D, indicate :progressively farther Open positions. -It will be here noted 'that 'the upper end of the e901, in bei-ne shifted from" -a closed to :its lopen position, is not ma-V terially raised above its normally upper end when To facilitate the opening of the door, I have provided a spring 2l, which is secured at its lower end to a bracket 22 secured to the lower portion of the inside of the frame, and at its upper end to the end Hb of the lever, which is extended above or beyond its pivotal mounting on the bracket l5. The connection to the latter end of the lever Il is by means of a bracket 23, which extends from the lever I l to the side of the door.

Though I have shown and described a particular construction, combination, and arrangement of parts and portions of my overhead door, and have limited my description and claims to an application to an overhead garage door, I do not wish to be limited .tothe same, but desire to include in the scope of my invention the construction, combination, and arrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. A mechanism of the class described for supporting a door on a frame, comprising: a guiding lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end to the upper portion'of the side of the frame; a

master lever adapted to be pivotally connected at oneV end thereof to themiddle portion of the frame inwardly from the guiding'lever pivot, the other end of the master lever being adapted to be pivotally connected'to the lower portion of the inner side of the door; and a third lever adapted to be pivotally connected to the intermediate portion of the inside of the door and being pivotally connected to the other end of the guiding lever.

2. A mechanism of the class described for supporting a door on a frame, comprising: a guiding lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end to the upper portion of the side of the frame; a master lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end thereof to the middle portion of the frame inwardly from the guiding lever pivot, the other end of the master lever being adapted to be pivotally connected to the lower portion of the inner side of the door; a third lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end thereof to the intermediate portion of the inside of the door and being connected at the other end thereof to the free end of the guiding lever; and means in connection with the pivotal connection at the free end of the guiding lever for determining the position of the latter pivotal connection with respect to and inwardly of the frame.

3. A mechanism of the class" described for supporting a door on a frame, comprising: a guiding lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end to the upper portion of the side of the frame; a master lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end thereof to the middle portion of the frame inwardly from theV guiding lever pivot, the other end of the master lever being adapted to be pivotally connected to the lower portion of the inner side of the door; a third lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end thereof t0 the intermediate portion of the inside of the door and being connected at the other end thereof to the free end of the guiding lever; and mBLlS in connection with the master lever and the pivotal connection at the free end of the guiding lever for determining the position of said pivotal connection at the free end of the guiding lever with respect to the master lever and inwardly of the frame.

e. A mechanism of the class described for supporting a door on a frame, comprising: a guiding lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end to the upper portion of the side of the frame; a master lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end thereof to the middle portion of the frame inwardly from the guiding lever pivot, the other end of the master lever being adapted to be pivotally connected to the lower portion of the inner side of the door; a third lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end thereof to the intermediate portion of the inside of the door and being connected at the other end thereof to the other end of the guiding lever, anda link pivotally connecting Vthe latter pivotal connectionwith intermediate portion of the master lever. l

5. A mechanism of the class described for supporting a door on a frame, comprising: a guiding lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end to the upper portion of the side of the frame; a master lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end thereof to the middle portion of the frame, the other end of the master lever being adapted to be pivotally connected to the lower portion of the inner side ofthe door; a third lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end thereof to the middle portion of the inside of the door and being connected at the other end thereof to the other end of the guiding lever, the master lever being adapted to extend beyond its pivotal connection with the frame; and a spring connected at one endthereof to the extended end of the master lever and adapted to be connected at the other end-thereof to the lower end of the frame.

. 6. A mechanism of the class described for sup porting a door on a frame, comprising: a guiding lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end to the upper portion of the side of the frame; a master lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end thereof to the middle portion of the frame inwardly from the guiding lever pivot, the other end of the master lever being adapted to be pivotally connected to the lower .portion .of the inner side of the door; a third lever adapted to be connected at one end thereof vto the middle portion of the inside of the door and being con-` nected at the other end thereof to the other end of the guiding lever, the master lever being adapted to extend beyond its pivotal connection with the frame; and a spring connected at one end thereof to the extended end of the master lever and adapted to be connected at the other end. thereof to the lower end of the frame.

'7. A mechanism of the class described for supporting a dooron a frame, comprising: a master lever adapted to be pivotallymounted at substantially the median portion between the lower and upper ends of the frame and inwardly from the plane of the door in its closed position, the lever being adapted to extend downwardly from its pivotal mounting and being adapted to be pivotally connected at its lower end lto near the lower end o f the door and substantially inthe plane thereof; and lever and link guide means pivotally connected to the intermediateportion of the master lever and adapted to be pivotally connected to the middle portion of the door and upper end. ci the frame, for guiding the swinging of the door to a horizontal position at the upper end of the frame.

8. A mechanism of the class described for supporting a door on a frame, comprising: a master lever adapted to be pivotally mounted at substantially the median portion between the lower and upper ends of the frame and inwardly from the plane of the door in its closed position, the lever being adapted to extend downwardly from its pivotal mounting and being adapted to be pivotally'connected at its lower end to near the lower end of the door and substantially in the plane thereof; and lever and link guide means comprising two levers and a link, each being pivotally connected at one end to the other two, the other end of the link being pivotally connected to the intermediate portion of the master lever, and the other ends of the levers of said means being adapted to be pivotally connected, respectively, to the intermediate portion of the door and the upper end portion of the frame, the pivotally connected ends of the levers and link of said means being adapted to be located a considerable distance inwardly from the pivotal mounting of the master lever, said means being capable of guiding the swinging of the door to a horizontal position at the upper end of the frame.

9. A mechanism of the class described for supporting a door on a frame, comprising: a guiding lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end to the upper portion of the side of the frame; a master lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end thereof to the middle portion of the frame, the other end of the master lever being adapted to be pivotally connected to the lower portion of the inner side of the door, and a third lever adapted to be pivotally connected at one end thereof to the intermediate second lever portion of said portion of the inside of the door and being connected at the other end thereof to the other end of the guiding lever.

l0. A mechanism of the class described for supporting a door on a frame, comprising: a continuous rigid lever adapted to be pivotally connected to said frame at the middle portion thereof and also adapted to be pivotally connected to lower portion of the door; a rst series of elements comprising a secondflever adapted to be pivotally connected to the upper portion of the frame; a first lever portion of said rigid lever; and a link pivotally connected to both said second lever and said rst lever portion in such a manner that said rst series is adapted toI be connected at one end to the upper portion of the frame and at the other end to the middle portion thereof; and a second series of elements comprising a third lever adapted to be pivotally connected to the middle portion of the door, a rigid lever, and said link being pivotally connected to both said third lever and said second lever portion in such a manner that said second series is adapted to be connected at one end to the lower portion of said door and the other end is adapted to be connected to the middle portion thereof.

ROSCOE FOWLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 586,476 Coates July 13, 1897 2,043,472 Eager et al June 9, 1936 2,043,473 Eager et al June 9, 1936 2,523,207 Fowler et al. Sept. 19, 1950 

